Employees Retirement System of Texas Has $3.26 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 58.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,427 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 112,766 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.92.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.70. The company had a trading volume of 13,868,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,056,835. The firm's fifty day moving average is $42.99 and its 200 day moving average is $42.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).